Improvement in machines for cutting fabrics



f I I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

A. MUEHLING 8;- R. V DAVlS Machine for Cutting Fabrics.

y N0. 208,90] v Patented Oct. 15, 1878 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. A. MUEHLING & R. V. DAVIS.

Machine for Cutting Fabrics.

Ptented Oct. 15, 1878':

wif/voesbles kept on the eccentrics by having a small UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE.

ALEXANDER MUEHLIN G AND RICHARD V. DAVIS, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA; SAID DAVIS ASSIGNOR TO SAID ll'lUEHLING.

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHIN ES FOR CUTTING FABRICS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 208,920, dated October 15, 1878; application filed February To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ALEXANDER MUEHL- ING and RICHARD V. DAVIS, of the city .of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented anew and useful Improvement in Machines for Cutting Knit and \VOX'GH Fabrics, which improvement is fully set forth in the following specification and accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a front view of our improved machine. Fig. 2 is an end view of the same; Fig. 3, a view of the pin-board; Fig. 4, a view of the knife-bed. Fig. 5 is a view of the pinboard with a piece of knit fabric, showing the method of cutting the fabric for stockings; Fig. 6, a view of a piece of knit fabric cut the proper form for a stocking. Fig. 7 is a view of the pressure-board.

The other figures are parts, and will be designated by letters of reference, and the similar letters of reference in the drawings refer to like parts.

The object of our invention is the construction of a machine which may be used to cut from a web of knit or woven'fabric articles that are to be sewed together in the making up of stockings, shirts, drawers, and,other artieles of wearing apparel made from knit or woven fabric.

The invention consists in the combination of a sliding pin-board and a reciprocating knifebed, to which is fixed a series of knives; also, in combination with the pin-board and knifebed, a pressure-plate for holding the fabric while the knives are cutting through the fabric and until the knives are drawn from the cut fabric, all as will be hereinafter described, referring to the drawings, making a part of this specification.

Arepresents the frame of themachinepvhich is constructed of metal, cast in parts, and put together, forming a machine, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. 011 the top of the machine is mounted a shaft, S, which works in bearings c a. ()n this shaft are keyed two eccentrics, b b. To these eccentrics are fitted straps, from which extend connections 0 0'. These straps are groove turned in the face of the eccentric, and a small screw, 0, screwed into the strap,wh1eh screw projects through and into the groove turned in the eccentric. The connections 0 c are connected to bed B by pins,forming joints at thepoint of connection. (See Figs. 1 and 2.)

The bed B on the under part is formed with beveled cleats at each end, and the ends of the knife-plate B are fitted to correspond with the (l d are fixed in the top and bottom of the machine frame A, and serve as guides for the knife-bed, which is made to freely move up and down on them. In the knife-bed, at each end, are two other holes, 1) 1). From these four holes are suspended four bolts, 1 1, upon each of which are two nuts. These bolts extend down into holes in the bottom of the frame A, which holes serve as guides for the lower ends of the bolts. rests the pressure-plate O, which is constructed as shown in Fig. 7, having slots to correspond with the series of knives fastened to bed B, and a series of holes to correspond with the pins in the pin-board D. This pressure-plate 0 may be made of cast-iron or brass.

D is the pin-board. This should be made of well-seasoned cherry-wood, and the parts that the knife out against should be provided with strips of rawhide let into the board flush with the face. This pin-board is also provided with light needle-pointed pins 12 '1. (See Fig. 3.) This pin-board is made to slide under the prcssurc-plate O and knife-bed B, and when drawn out rests on'the arms or extensions of the frame A, (see Fig. 2,) and when pushed under the knives it is forced up against the stop 1, which serves as a gage to insure the knives cutting the fabric at the proper places.

The operation is as follows: The fabric to be cut up is placed on the pin-board 1), and fastened by the pins '11 o, as shown in Fig. 5, F representing the fabric. The machine hav- On the lower nuts ing been provided with the proper series of knives and a pressure-plate, the pin-board D with the fabric F to be cut is pushed under the knives and pressure plate 0 up hard against the stop t, and power is applied to the shaft S, which is given one revolution, and as the eccentrics revolve the connections 0 0' will force down the bed B, and the pressure-plate C will drop on the fabric F before the knives enter the fabric, and hold it while the knives cut through it, and as the knives are raised the pressure-plate C will hold the fabric until the knives are clear of it, when the pressureplate will be raised to clear the pins '11 'v, and the pin-board D will be drawn from under the knives, and the fabric will have been cut completely across from edge to edge, as shown in Fig. 5 by the solid lines. The fabric is removed from the pin board and other fabric fixed to the pins and cut, as before described.

In order to a full understanding of the cut fabric F, (represented in Fig. 5,) it will be supposed that F represents a piece of knit tubular fabric thirty inches wide and forty and one-half inches long, and when fastened to the pins, as shown in Fig. 5, is of two thicknesses. It is desired to cut from this piece of fabric twenty-four pieces, from which may be made twenty-four stockings of the size known as NO. 1 77 As above described, the fabric is cut as is represented by the solid lines, when, by hand, the fabric is cut by shears along the dotted lines, and the piece will be cut into twentyfour pieces of the shape shown in Fig. 6, which, when sewed, will make twenty-four stockings complete of the above size, and they will be all of the exact and uniform size, which cannot be accomplished when the cutting is done solely by hand. A number of pieces forming several thicknesses may be cut at one operation, thereby cutting out a large number of stockings at one operation.

It is understood that for each size of stocking is required a knife-plate, B, with a series of knives, a pressure plate, and pin-board. The plate B is readily removed by taking out the bolt in center and the two dowel-pins at the ends, when the plate B may be drawn out and another put in having holes for the bolt and pins, which will secure the plate 13' in its exact position.

In cutting some heavy fabrics the pressureplate 0 may be dispensed with, and the general adaptation of the machine to out such articles asdesired will be readily understood by those who are skilled in the arts to which this invention belongs.

The machine may be modified in form, but the invention remain the same.

WVe are aware that a reciprocating bed to which is fixed properly shaped knives has been used to cut, by pressure, fabrics used in the making up of articles of wearing apparel. This we do not claim.

We claim- 1. The reciprocating knife-bed B, in combi nation with the sliding pin-board D, as shown and described.

2. The combination of knife-bed B,pressureplate G, and pin-board D, as shown and described, and for the purpose specified.

ALEXANDER MUEHLING. It. VAUX DAVIS. Witnesses:

H. R. EDMoNDs, JOHN SHINN. 

